Shaw's, Strawberries, and Smiles
by Hashtag Fangirling
Summary: Being left alone in the middle of a supermarket is probably the worst experience for someone new to New York. But for Jason, at least something good came out of it.


Jason could not believe his luck.

At this second in time, Jason was in the middle of an aisle trying to find some goddamn strawberries. He was currently in aisle 4, where all of the meats were.

Shaw's was a lot different in San Francisco. The layout of the store was different, so the aisles were all in different places. After the death of his mother, he came to New York City to live with his older sister, Thalia, and his father who he hadn't seen since his birth.

But does that seriously count as seeing your father?

Thalia was going to be a freshman in college at NYU. Thankfully, they didn't need to put him into the foster system. Sure, he was mad at his mother for never telling him about his older sister and mad at his father for never trying to look for him, but at least he had a family who could truly love him.

Well, it looked like Thalia's definition of truly loving him was leaving him in the middle of hell alone to fend for himself.

Jason was going to go into his sophomore year at Goode High School. His cousins Percy and Nico both attended the school and were relatively popular, so he would easily make some friends.

Percy Jackson was a senior, while Nico di Angelo was a freshman. Percy was extremely popular with the "world's perfect-est girlfriend" (as said so by Percy). Nico had a crush on a junior boy named Will Solace, who was the president of the FDA (Future Doctors of America) club, but they were good friends in and outside of school.

Sadly enough, summer was coming to an end, and Jason had to start school soon. He didn't know any sophomores, even though Percy promised to introduce him to a couple of his friends who were. The bonfire was in a couple of days, and Jason was excited to make some friends who were actually his age.

Once again, he found himself hopelessly wandering around the supermarket. He ended up in aisle 7 with the... eh... sanitary napkins.

At this point, he knew he needed help, but his pride was getting the best of him.

Jason Grace does not need help. Jason Grace accomplishes what he needs himself.

He felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He dug his hand into his back pocket, brought it to view, and looked at the text from Thalia.

 _Sparky, come on, we need to leave soon. Five minutes or I'm leaving._

Great. He had five minutes to find the goddamn strawberries, pay for them, and then leave.

Now he actually needed help for sure.

He saw a girl with her back turned to him wearing a bright orange shirt with an apron on. She had choppy brown hair that looked like she cut it herself with a few braids. She also had feathers in her hair and feather earrings on too.

He walked over to her and nervous said, "Excuse me?"

The girl who was putting the sanitary napkins back onto the wall looked at him.

She had dark skin. Not like tan skin, but her skin was darker than tan. She was a lot shorter than Jason, her five-four making his six-one look like a skyscraper. She was fit, but she was very curvy.

She looked like she was practically bless by the goddess Aphrodite herself!

But her eyes were the most enigmatic thing he had ever faced in her life. He couldn't even tell what color they were! One second they were blue, another second they were green, and then another second they were brown. They looked like kaleidoscopes.

And none-the-less, they looked beautiful.

Jason wasn't really one to be awkward whenever he talked to girls. Before moving, he had a girlfriend named Reyna, but they broke up before he left. He didn't want to put her in the position of having to suffer a long distance relationship. At least they still are friends.

But the pretty girl in front of him made him forget his own name.

She looked at him and asked him, "Hello! What can I do for you today?"

He didn't know how to react because she took his breath away. After a minute, he ended up spitting out. "I'm lost and I need directions."

She smiled and said, "Usually, when I hear that pick up line, people usually say it as 'I'm sorry! I need directions because I got lost in your eyes.'"

Jason's eyes became wide, and he aggressively started shaking his head. "No no no no no no! I actually need directions to the fruit section. I'm new to New York City, and my sister forced me into the store to buy strawberries."

She disapprovingly shook her head, but still smiled. "I'm guessing that's why you're in the women's care section." Jason's cheeks tinted a little pink. "Don't worry, buddy. I've got you."

She led him out of aisle 7 and led him to the fresh produce section. "So where are you from? My dad lives in Los Angeles."

Jason was happy that she wasn't being awkward while they walked. He smiled and replied, "I used to live in San Francisco. Why does your dad live in Los Angeles and you live here?"

She looked a little uncomfortable with the question, but replied. "My dad works there, and can't really leave his work. And I live here with my friend Annabeth as an exchange student from Los Angeles. The summer camp I go to is here in New York too, so I'm also here for the summers." After a brief pause, she asked, "So what school are you going to in the fall?"

We were almost at the strawberry aisle, but I wanted the time with her to last so much longer. "I'm starting at Goode High next year. What school do you go to?"

The girl smiled a little brighter than before and said, "So am I! I'm going into sophomore year, how about you?"

Now it was Jason's turn to smile. "So am I. At least I'll know somebody who's actually in my grade."

She took a left at the corner and continued going straight. She looked over at him and said, "So, do you know anyone who isn't in our grade?"

Jason's smile was still pretty apparent. "I have two cousins who go to Goode." Piper nodded, as to say go on. "I have a cousin named Percy in senior year and a cousin named Nico in freshman year. Do you know them?"

Piper's mouth curled from a smile to an opened-mouth grin. "Oh my God! Percy and I are super good friends!" I gave her the _what?_ expression, so she explained. "Remember how I said that I am an exchange student?" I nodded. "Well, Annabeth, his girlfriend, is the family I'm staying with during the exchange! So I literally see him all the time. He's always at the apartment with Annabeth or she goes over to his apartment."

It was hard to contain any smiles now. Jason's grin went from one ear to the other. "That's actually really funny. We live in a small world, don't we?"

The girl smiled and nodded. "Yes we do." After two seconds, her eyes popped, and Jason could see a lot of fresh fruit everywhere. "We're here!"

And for the first time during that trip, I was sad to see the goddamn strawberries.

 _No wonder strawberries are red. They are the spawn of the devil!_ Jason had a lot to say to those romance killing demons.

The girl finally faced him, so Jason could see her nametag. _Piper's a pretty name_ , Jason thought.

"Awe thank you! That's so nice!" The girl, Piper, had a little pinkish tint to her cheeks. "Well, I have to get back to aisle."

 _Shoot, I said that out loud!_ He nodded, and then said, "Are you going to Percy's bonfire thing on Saturday?"

She turned back around and smiled. "Of course! Well, at least I can introduce you to my sophomore friends. Leo's pretty cool, and you'll get along with him really well." After a tiny pause, she continued again. "Hey, what's your name? I don't think you ever told me."

He smiled and said, "Jason Grace. What's your number?" He took his phone of his pocket and raised it to her.

She blushed, snatched the phone, and put her number in it.

"I hope to you see you soon again, Piper."

She gave me a small smile and said, "We'll see each other again in like three days. But, I will see you in school."

So again, smiles were exchanged, Jason got the goddamn strawberries, and he paid for them at the register. The bagger happened to be Piper's friend Leo, the one she talked about before. He exited Shaw's and saw Thalia's electric blue convertible in the middle of the parking lot.

Once Jason got over to the car, Thalia looked really mad at him.

"Jason, what even took you that long? It's Shaw's, not the mall."

Jason just smiled and looked over to Thalia with a giant grin. "I made a new friend and found strawberries, that's all."

 **AND THAT IS A WRAP!**

 **Personally, I like the beginning better than the end, but I had to rush it because it does not take a whole week to write a one-shot. Oh well.**

 **Reactions? Yah, Nah, Eeh? Please Review and Favorite, as this is my first one shot.**

 **Ily guys**

 **~Hashtag Fangirling :)**


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